A New Rider
by Aseku
Summary: A fic about the book "Eragon" by Christopher Paolini. What happens if there's another Rider? How could another dragon have hatched? What does this mean for Eragon and Saphira? R&R!


Disclaimer: Of course I don't own Eragon, or any of its characters! They belong to Christopher Paolini. I WANT SAPHIRA THOUGH!! Oh well, I'll settle for Mythryan.

Mythryan: *looks offended* _Watch your tongue, little one. I am much stronger than you, you know._

Aseku: Oh chill, I love ya!

Mythryan: *grumbles and falls silent*

Author's Note: Well, I know that most of you haven't read the book, but I strongly encourage you to. It's an excellent book, and I sped through it without wanting to put it down. If, by some odd chance, Christopher Paolini happens to be reading this, HURRY UP AND GET THE NEXT BOOK DONE DANG IT!! This is shaping up to be an excellent book series, and I applaud you on one of the most original ideas since Tolkien and his Lord of the Rings. Anyway, for all of the people out there who aren't Christopher Paolini, which applies to most, I hope that you enjoy my fic, and if you haven't read the book yet, WHAT'S WRONG WITH YOU?! GET OUT THERE AND READ IT!! Oh well, enough rambling! REVIEW REVIEW REVIEW!!!

New Rider

Eragon rode slowly through the forest with Brom. He was tired. The old man had drilled him hard the previous night, and even with sleep all of his energy had not returned. He slouched in the saddle until he heard Brom yelling at him from ahead,

"What are you doing back there, boy?!" Eragon's head jerked up,

"Nothing…" he replied, sullenly. Brom glared at his tone of voice and circled Snowfire so that he was riding next to Eragon and Cadoc. He leaned over to him so that he was right next to his ear. Eragon listened closely, sure that Brom was about to divulge one of his many secrets. Brom drew in a deep breath and shouted,

"THIS IS NO TIME TO BE ASLEEP IN THE SADDLE!!" Eragon's yelped and jerked his head away as Cadoc pranced about nervously. Snowfire, however, remained calm. Instinctively, Eragon reached out to soothe him with his mind. As their consciousnesses touched, Cadoc calmed and they resumed walking peacefully. Brom was watching Eragon intently, as though he was considering telling him something. Finally, he seemed to reach a decision and he reined Snowfire over to Cadoc again.

"Eragon, Saphira has spotted another dragon following us. It does not get close, but it has been following us for some days now. We believe that it's rider may be stalking you." Eragon's moth opened. Another Dragon Rider? And he was stalking him?! Impossible! 

"But where did his dragon come from? I thought there were no more dragons, beside Saphira of course." Brom shrugged his shoulders solemnly,

"I don't understand it either, but the fact remains that there is a Rider following us with a dragon easily as large as Saphira. Tell me, will you be ready in the case of a confrontation?" Eragon's mind whizzed. A fight with another Rider?! It was ludicrous!

"Shouldn't he be trying to help me?" he asked. Brom shrugged his shoulders in an 'I don't know' gesture, and lapsed into a moody silence. Eragon still wanted answers. He contacted Saphira,

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Saphira? Are you there? Her reply was instantaneous and sharp,

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What's wrong, little one? Eragon realized that she thought that there was danger. He calmed her, saying,

__

Don't worry; I just want to know a little bit more about the Rider who's following us.

I do not know much about him. As for his dragon, I can say that it is about as big as me, perhaps a bit larger. Still, we cannot be more than a month apart in age.

And it's color? Asked Eragon, eagerly.

__

I cannot tell. It keeps changing colors. Often times I lose sight of it. Eragon pondered this for a while, unsure of what to think of it. When Brom finally stopped and announced that they would be making camp, Eragon gratefully dismounted Cadoc. As they were making supper, Brom suddenly froze. Eragon looked at him in surprise and reached for his bow, but Brom stopped him with a glare. He called out,

"We won't hurt you. Just come out and keep your hands where I can see them." There was a rustle of the bushes, and Eragon twisted his head around, looking for the source of the noise. There was no one there. The woods around them remained silent. Eragon turned to Brom,

"What was that?" Brom continued to look around warily as he answered,

"That was the other Rider. I guess he decided to come and check out what we were having for dinner." Eragon's eyes widened at the thought of someone who was supposed to be stalking him sneaking into their camp without them even noticing. Behind him, Saphira was restless. He reached for her in his thoughts and found her mind a jumble of worry and mistrust.

__

What's wrong Saphira? he asked, his voice clouded with concern.

__

I do not like this. She replied abruptly, _There is something around that makes me uneasy._ Eragon knew the source of her worries, but was disturbed by her tone of voice. It was very strained. He tried to send her comforting thoughts with his mind, but they did not calm her. Finally she spoke,

__

The other dragon was injured today. I saw it get hit by something and fall from the sky. I am worried about it. Perhaps there are Urgals nearby. Eragon's mind raced. Urgals?! That was always a bad sign. With this mystery Rider, they were even more of a threat.

__

Have you told Brom? he asked Saphira, already knowing her answer.

__

No. I did not want to trouble him. Eragon sighed, knowing that the task would be left up to him. He approached Brom slowly,

"Saphira just told me something." Brom turned to face him. "Apparently, the other Rider's dragon was downed today. She said it fell from the sky." Brom's eyes widened, but otherwise he gave no sign that he had heard Eragon. Instead, he rose swiftly and buckled on his sword. Eragon scrambled up quickly beside him and asked,

"What are we doing?" Brom's reply was curt,

"That dragon is injured. We have to help it. We cannot allow one of the last two remaining dragons to die." Eragon nodded and strapped on his own sword and bow. Of course they couldn't allow half of the dragon population to die! It was insane! He quickly followed Brom as the older man took off at a fast pace through the forest. 

After about half an hour, Eragon spotted a fire ahead of them. He and Brom made for it apprehensively. Behind the fire lay a large dragon. It was clearly injured, but it still raised it's head off the ground as it heard their approach. It was beautiful. Silver scales reflected the light of the dancing fire and the hues of the trees. In that way, the dragon was hidden, but in that way also, the dragon was horribly exposed. Eragon watched it in awe as it struggled to climb to it's feet. However, it failed in it's efforts, falling back after several tries. Eragon and Brom hurried to it's side. Brom began examining it, but there were no external injuries. The dragon snapped it's jaws at Brom in a feeble sort of way as he neared it's head, but soon relinquished his efforts. Eragon watched with interest until he heard a menacing voice from behind him,

"Leave my dragon be!" A sharp slice cut through Eragon's left shoulder, gripping him with pain. He whirled, drawing Zar'roc as he turned. Before him stood a warrior, fully clad in armor. The breastplate was worked with gold, as were the gauntlets and greaves. The helm was wrought of silver and gold, a beautiful emerald set in the center. A face-guard extended over most of the face, hiding most of it. The blade he held was of the finest make Eragon had ever seen, save for Zar'roc. It was the most brightly polished silver he had ever seen, and the reflection of the fire in it nearly blinded him. 

The warrior saw his chance and took it, striking towards Eragon's unprotected head. Eragon's instincts threw his sword up, and there was a crash as the two blades met. The warrior struck with skill. It was all Eragon could do to parry his blows. The armor seemed to be slowing Eragon's enemy down. Eragon shuddered to think what it would be like if he did not have it on. 

Striking quickly, Eragon managed to land a few blows, but not enough. The warrior fought back harshly, aiming mercilessly for Eragon's injured arm. Eragon yowled in pain as a particularly rough blow hit his injured shoulder. At this point, Brom stepped in. Using magic, he lifted the fighter and hurled him against a tree. Ramming into the tree hard, the warrior slid to the bottom and remained motionless.

Eragon yelled in shock and ran to him. It appeared that he was knocked out. Eragon decided that he had a right to know his attacker's face at least, so he pulled off the beautiful helm. Long, reddish-brown, curly hair tumbled from beneath the helm, framing the face of a beautiful young woman. She appeared to be no older than 15, about Eragon's age. Her forehead was bleeding slightly from the impact of hitting the tree. As Eragon reached up to wipe off the blood, her hand caught his, her eyes snapping open. They were emerald green, matching almost perfectly the stone set in her helm.

"It's alright." said Eragon, "We are friends." The girl glared at him suspiciously. However, when Eragon healed her wound with magic, her fears seemed somewhat abated.

"Who are you?" asked Eragon…


End file.
